Just a guy, with more pens and ink than he'll need in a lifetime. Instagram @ukfountainpens.

New pen day! Taccia Spectrum, Opus Koloro 88, Wing Sung 601

Oh most blessed of days — the New Pen Day — thrice visited me today! Rejoice!

Today I took delivery of three pens, all of which I immediately inked and had a good play with. Look out for reviews to come, but here are my first thoughts…

You wait ages for a pen, then three come along at once…

Opus 88 Koloro

I was intrigued by this pen when it was first announced. First by the fact that it has a really novel design, mixing ebonite with translucent plastic in a rather unusual way.

It’s a bit of a Marmite design, but kudos for doing something different.

Second by the rare filling type: Japanese eyedropper. You fill it with the included bulb syringe straight into the barrel, and the section threads feature an o-ring to seal.

Yep, it’s an eyedropper.

But there’s also a metal rod down the centre of the barrel with a rubber plug on it, much like the rods on a TWSBI Vac or Pilot 823, but this exists purely to seal off the ink in the barrel away from the feed — handy for travelling or preventing eyedropper-burp.

First impressions are that I like the design and the construction (the logo is engraved, fit and finish is good).

Engraving. No expense spared. Clip is meh though.

But the #5 F steel nib lacks personality and runs a bit dry. It reminds me of the #5 nibs that Franklin-Christoph uses — same feed.

Oh well.

Definitely a true fine!

Taccia Spectrum

Yep, it’s the budget Sailor with a tiny steel nib. Standard cartridge-converter mechanism. I really wanted to like this pen, but a few things immediately put me off. The logo is screen-printed.

Skimped on the engraving, then…

The chrome cap threads look cheap, and I don’t much like the clip either.

Also, the section is small — this is a much smaller pen than the Opus.

The chrome threads don’t just look naff, they feel sloppy.

Thankfully, all is redeemed by the nib, in this case a B, which is juicy and expressive and despite being steel, feels indeed much like the 21k nib on my Pro Gear, complete with just an ounce of feedback.

The nib is tiny but packs a punch.

Really fun B nib.

Wing Sung 601

How could I say no? A beautiful Parker knock-off, with vacumatic filling mechanism, ink windows, retro colours and a cute hooded nib — all for about £12.

A VACUMATIC REBORN!

It’s just beautiful, although the fit and finish is decidedly budget.

You can definitely see the join in the blind cap…

Oh, and it leaked until I reassembled the section.

Cute little nib.

But OH! It writes AMAZINGLY. Super fine line, but really really smooth, wet, and with no hesitation, even without flushing. Considering I just received a much more expensive Namisu Ixion with both a Bock steel nib and a Bock Ti nib, and NEITHER wrote out of the box, I am impressed at what Wing Sung can do.

This is literally my perfect line. Bravo Wing Sung.

Note: I bought the Wing Sung with my own money; the Taccia and Opus are on loan from Pen Chalet as part of a United Inkdom group test and will be returned. See my ethics page.